


We're Stressed Out ;; Joshler

by knightsten



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Blurryface, M/M, Stressed Out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-01
Updated: 2017-05-19
Packaged: 2018-10-26 05:45:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 6,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10780797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/knightsten/pseuds/knightsten
Summary: Tyler and Josh were only 9 when they met. They're in their 20's now and don't really remember each other, what happened?





	1. one

**Author's Note:**

> this might be a little confusing, but for most of the story, the first half is when they're younger and the second half is, i guess, present time. it sounds more confusing than it is. this is also on wattpad and quotev.

Tyler woke to the green stars taped onto his ceiling. He fumbled with the blue blankets on his bed and flipped them off. He sat on the edge of the bed.

The nine year old looked around his room. Little spaceship and planet paintings lined the top of the dark blue wall, a white border met a white carpet that was currently littered with legos. Tyler jumped out of bed and stepped around them and into the kitchen.

His mom was already over the stove, flipping chocolate chip pancakes.

"Good morning, Tyler." she said without looking at him. "Are you hungry?"

Tyler shook his head and quietly said, "No."

His mom turned around. "Well you have to eat sometime. As for now, go walk down to the store and get something for Zack for Christmas. I think they just opened."

Tyler opened his hand and she dropped money into it. Tyler counted the money; $4.73.

"I don't think this is enough for anything." he said, still looking at the money.

"They have a clearance bin, don't they? Zack will probably be fine with whatever you get him."

He rolled his eyes and put the coins and bills into his pocket.

"Be careful, they say it's supposed to snow." His mom called out as Tyler grabbed his coat and walked outside.

-time skip-

He opened the local store's large glass doors. Familiar smells filled his nose. Coffee, pumpkin pie, and mint.

"Hi Tyler, what can I do for you today?" the store manager, Eddie, said.

"I'm looking for something for Zack, for Christmas." Tyler walked to the counter Eddie was at.

"You should've come earlier in the year, we don't really have any toys left." Eddie explained. "You'll need to look in the clearance bin. Sorry kiddo."

Tyler walked to the box. Usually it was full of little things like hair bows or rubber bouncy balls. He plowed to the bottom. Nothing.

Tyler sighed and went back to the counter Eddie was at. "I couldn't find anything. Do you have anything else I could afford?"

Eddie put his hands on his hips. "We have a few other things, like, uh..." he looked around. "Candles. We have candles. Would Zack want a candle?"

"I don't know, he's seven!" Tyler replied.

"Well, good luck." Eddie said and turned around to look at the shelves behind him.

Tyler walked around. He looked outside and it was starting to lightly snow. "Hey Eddie. Look." he pointed through one of the large windows. Eddie gazed outside. "Ok, so?" Tyler rolled his eyes. He loved the snow.

There were different sizes, the cheapest were mini candles for $4.50 each. He picked one up and opened the lid.

Before he could smell it, a boy and a man burst through the doors.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tyler woke up in bed. He stared at his ceiling.

Just plain white.

He sighed and whipped the gray covers off. He placed his feet on the ground and his elbows on his knees. Tyler rubbed his face with his hands.

He stood up and sighed. He isn't back home. Just stuck in his boring apartment. He slid a white shirt over his head and jumped into a pair of jeans. Tyler brushed his teeth quickly, pulled on black shoes, grabbed a breakfast bar and ran out his front door.

-time skip-

The 27-year-old opened the doors to the large building. He walked to the elevator and pressed the button to go up. As he was waiting, Tyler finished his breakfast bar and threw the wrapper away. The doors opened and he stepped inside.

A man with pink hair and a blue and white sweatshirt was already in.

Tyler knew a lot of people he worked with, but he didn't recognize this guy. "Are you new?" he mumbled.

"Uh, yeah. First week. Are you?" the man looked at him with beautiful brown eyes.

"No, I've been working here for two years."

"Nice, I'm Josh." he held his hand out and Tyler shook it. His hand felt... familiar? No, this guy was new.

They didn't realize they were still holding hands and staring at each other's eyes until the doors opened. Tyler dropped Josh's hand and shoved his into his pockets. Josh's face started to turn red.

"Um, this is my, uh, floor. Bye." he stuttered and quickly walked out.

The doors closed again.

 _He seems so familiar_ , Tyler thought as the gray box started moving up again.


	2. two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is such trash i'm sorry

  
Tyler stared at the beautiful boy and a man, who Tyler presumed was the boy's dad. The kid had brown hair and shining eyes to match.

Eddie snapped his fingers. "Tyler. Tyler!"

Tyler whipped around. "W-what?"

Eddie smiled. "You were staring!" he whispered.

"I was not!" Tyler whispered back.

"Were too!" Eddie teased and Tyler's face turned red.

"Okay, so what if I was?" he protested and crossed his arms over his chest.

"You like him, don't you?" Eddie said.

"What? No! I just saw him!" Tyler defensively said.

"Ok, ok. Just so you know, he's coming over here." Eddie said and turned around.

Tyler's eyes widened and he stood still. The boy and his dad walked by Tyler and the kid's shoulder bumped Tyler's.

"Sorry." Tyler quickly apologized. The boy turned his head and smiled. "It's okay, I'm Jo-" the boy held out his hand but his dad pulled him away. Tyler heard him mutter, "We need to go before the snow covers too much of the road."

Tyler watched as the two left in a black car. "So much for a first impression." Tyler said. He slid it onto the counter and paid $4.61.

  
~~~~~~~~~~

  
Tyler ran into the room. His music partner, Oliver, was already waiting there.

"You got any new ideas?" The blonde man said.

"A few, actually." Tyler took the sticky notes that he wrote a few lyrics on out of his jacket pocket. He threw them onto the table. Oliver picked one up, read it, put it down and shook his head.

"What? I didn't think they were that bad." Tyler frantically grabbed his notes and reread them.

"Tyler, this stuff is never going to make it big. I mean, 'the few, the proud, the emotional'? Nobody wants to listen to this. It's all about..." Oliver waved his hands for emphasis. "Partying. Drinking. Sex. Love. Drugs. That's what people want."

"Well maybe people just want a change?" Tyler quietly said and looked up at Oliver, who was towering over him.

"Why would they want a change? Nobody has shown waiting a change. Look at the most popular songs right now. They're about things people like."

"Whatever. Do you have any ideas?" Tyler threw his notes away.

"Yeah. Go sing this." Oliver handed him a paper with long lyrics on it.

"I'll play the guitar in the back, we can add other stuff later." Oliver said and they stepped inside of the recording studio. Oliver picked up his guitar and got his paper ready. Tyler placed the headphones over his ears. He looked at his paper and then at Oliver. Tyler didn't want to sing these, but he had to.

"One, two, three..." Oliver counted them down. Tyler sang the first half of the paper with Oliver playing in the back.

"Okay, stop. Stop." Tyler said and took off his headphones, and so did Oliver.

"What was that? I thought you were doing so good!" Oliver said.

"I just.... I'm not feeling it. I'm not even that good at singing, just let me play an instrument."

"No. You have to sing." Oliver ordered.

"I wish I had a better voice to sing some better words." Tyler looked at the ground and held his headphones.

"And, does this have to rhyme? It's just annoying now."

Oliver sighed. "You're lucky you have me." he said and went back to his microphone. "I'm going to change up some chords, make it pop a little more." he erased some notes from his paper and redrew them in a different order. "Let's see if we can make some sounds no one's ever heard. One, two, three..."

Tyler went back to doing as he was told. 


	3. three

\------------------

Tyler hurried home through the snow with the candle in a bag.

The candle's scent was 'Autumn Forest', Eddie said. It smelled like leaves and a fire.

Tyler wasn't sure if Zack would like it, but he had to have hope. Tyler stepped into his house. "Hello?" he called out.

He walked into the dining room and saw the note on the table.

We went out to the store, be back soon.

Tyler had the house to himself. He went into his room and tried to finish building things with legos. He couldn't stop thinking about the boy at the store.

The way he had smiled at Tyler made him feel nice.

The front door opened. "Tyler?" his mom called out. He ran out into the room and hugged her. Tyler's dad walked in with Tyler's siblings.

"It was a bad idea to go out there, goo thing we left 5 minutes ago and not 30." His mom said and bent down next to Tyler. "What did you get?"

"A mini candle. Eddie helped me because there wasn't really anything there." He whispered back. His mom nodded and stood up straight.

"Okay, so, there's a family we met earlier and they just moved in down the street. I hope you don't mind that I invited them over" she said and peeked out the front door.

She walked into the kitchen. Tyler followed. "Who are they?" He asked.

"I think they're... The Duns. I don't exactly remember. But they have a little boy who's your age." Tyler shrugged and opened the fridge. He was starving.

"They have four kids, actually. I think th-" the doorbell rang.

Tyler and his mom walked to the front door and she opened it. A man and a woman with three small children were standing there, their hair dusted with snow.

Not to mention the boy from the store trying to catch snowflakes on his tongue.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tyler was back at his small apartment. He was sprawled out on his bed looking through his mom's old scrapbook. It was full of old family pictures.

There were ones from Halloweens, Zack as a baby, his parents' wedding. The list went on.

He flipped open a page from Christmas, 1997. A familiar scent filled the air, but Tyler couldn't figure out where it was from. It was on the tip of his tongue but he just didn't know.

Tyler flipped to the next page, titled 'Tyler and Josh'. It had some pictures of Tyler and another boy, but Tyler could only focus on one. One where Tyler and the other kid had their arms around each other's necks.

The boy looked familiar.

That's when it hit him.

This was the guy from the elevator.


	4. four

\-----------------------

"Hi, come on in!" Tyler's mom enthusiastically said and welcomed the family in. They walked in and his mom closed the door.

The parents were talking and the kids were awkwardly smiling at the parents.

"Oh, I'm sorry! Josh, this is..." the neighbor's mom said.

"Tyler." he spoke.

"So that's your name." Josh said and smiled.

"You two have met?" Tyler's mom asked. Tyler shrugged.

"Well, you two can go to Tyler's room." His mom dismissed them and they walked into the space-themed room. Tyler left the door a crack open.

"Hi." Tyler awkwardly said. Josh turned around. "Hi." he replied and stuffed his hands into his pockets.

"Wanna play with legos?" the taller nine year old eagerly said. They both looked at the mess of legos. "Sure." Josh replied and they sat down.

After a while on stacking the blocks onto each other, Tyler said, "Tell me about yourself." Josh looked up and stared at Tyler. "Um, my name is Josh." Tyler sat there, not knowing what exactly to say.

"I know. Tell me something about your family." Josh thought. "I have two sisters and a brother, and I have a cat and a bunny."

That's better, Tyler thought. "I have a brother and a sister. I really like spaceships."

Josh looked around. "I could tell."

"Yeah." Tyler said. "Why did you move here?"

"I don't know, maybe we needed a house that fit six people and two pets. That house was here."

They sat in silence.

Someone knocked at the door before Tyler's mom opened it. "Am I disturbing anything?"

Tyler shook his head.

"Ok, well, Josh, you have to go now. It was really nice meeting you." she said and Josh got up. He smiled.

"Bye Tyler." Josh said and now it was Tyler's turn to smile. He walked out the door.

The front door closed. His mom sat down next to Tyler. "What did you think of Josh?" she asked.

"He's quiet but he's cool," was all Tyler had to say.

"That's it?" Tyler shrugged. She stood up and walked out.

~~~~~~~~

Tyler got up early to make sure he looked nice. He neatly combed his hair and washed his face three times. Tyler put on black jeans and an orange and white shirt.

He ran into the building in hopes that he'd see Josh again. He quickly pressed the button on the elevator. The doors slowly slid open and Tyler's smile melted into a frown. The elevator was empty.

He sadly sighed and walked inside. He looked in the mirror walls and messed with his hair.

Two floors below his, the doors opened. A man glided inside.

Tyler's heart skipped a beat. "Josh?" he smiled and turned around.

Instead, it was a middle aged man. "Benjamin." the man said. Tyler looked away and mumbled a 'sorry'. He inched to the other end.

The doors slithered open once more and ran out.


	5. five

\-------------  
It was Josh's 10th birthday. Tyler and his mom got into the car and drove the short distance. Although Josh had been to Tyler's house many times, Tyler had never been to Josh's.  
They pulled into the driveway and Tyler was surprised. Josh's house was enormous, with 3 floors, a tree house in the backyard, and a creek behind that.  
Tyler and his mom walked up to the large front door and knocked. Josh's mom opened the door and her face lit up.  
"So glad you could make it! " she happily exclaimed and opened the door. They walked inside and Josh ran into the front room. "Hi Tyler!" He said.  
Tyler smiled. "Uh, where do I put this?" He looked at Josh's mom. She pointed to a table and he walked over to set it down.  
His mom and Josh's mom both went into the living room with the other adults.  
"Happy birthday!" Tyler said. "Thanks!" Josh yelled and hugged Tyler.  
Tyler felt his face turn red and he hugged Josh back.  
The separated and Josh ran downstairs. Confused, Tyler followed him. He quickly ran down the stairs and saw a group of other kids there.  
There were four, and he recognized two- Conor and Brandon. Josh said the other two were Patrick and Martin. Tyler joined the group but didn't say anything. The boys were talking and Tyler was listening.  
Soon they were called up to eat pizza, so all six ran upstairs and gobbled down their food. They stayed upstairs for a while because Conor had a stomach ache.  
"Mom, what can we do up here with Conor?" Josh sighed. His mom smiled. "How about truth or dare?"  
"Ew, that's such a girly game!" Conor called out from the corner. Josh rolled his eyes. "Why did you invite him?' he walked back to Conor and the other boys.  
" We're playing truth or dare." Josh sat down across from Conor. Conor's face cringed in disgust! "Eww!" Nobody else agreed with Conor's statement and they all sat down, not caring how "girly" the game was, which it wasn't.  
They all asked each other dumb truths and dares, and it was Tyler's turn again. He smiled. "Josh, truth or dare?"  
"Truth."  
"Who do you have a crush on?" Tyler asked. Josh nervously laughed.  
"Oh, um, it's, uh..." He stuttered  
"Come on Josh!" "Tell us!" "Who is it?!"  
Josh smiled at Tyler. "O-okay. It's.. ty-"  
"Can we stop playing this?" Conor interrupted. "NO!' Everyone else yelled.  
Tyler's mom walked over. " Tyler, we gotta go. Say bye to everyone."  
Tyler sadly got up and looked down. "Bye guys." He ran after his mom.  
When they were in the car, his mom asked, "So how was it?"  
Tyler shrugged.  
Truth or Dare was still on his mind.  
~~~~~~~~~  
It was the end of the day, and Tyler was miserable. He walked inside the elevator once more, and the doors started to close.  
"Wait!" Someone called out and Tyler put his foot in between the doors.  
The person ran up to the elevator and Tyler took his foot out.  
It was Josh, finally Tyler saw him.  
"Hi, Josh, right?" Tyler asked. Josh nodded.  
They stood silently for a while.  
"Oh, I never pressed the button." Tyler reached over and pressed the ground floor button.  
Josh giggled.  
"Hey, I never got your name." He said.  
"Oh, it's Tyler."  
Josh's eyes widened. "Wait, Tyler Joseph?"  
Tyler was confused. "Yeah... Why?"  
Josh smiled. "I have something I need to show you tomorrow!" he excitedly said.  
"Oh, okay. I might have something to show you too." Tyler said, remembering his picture at home.  
"Okay," the elevator dinged and the doors opened. "See you tomorrow then." Josh smiled once more and walked out. Tyler walked out too, slowly, but smiling. _This could be the Josh from the picture_. Tyler thought.  
_He's pretty damn hot._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ha i'm going to rip your hearts out with this


	6. six

"Mom, this is stupid." Tyler, now 11, said. It was the morning before his first day of 6th grade. His mom tied and untied a bowtie around Tyler's neck.  
"Mom, please just keep it off. I'm scared people are gonna make fun of me."  
"When you get older all your fears will shrink, just deal with this for now." she replied.  
She then slammed the bowtie onto the table and cursed. She sighed. "I can't get it. Go change into something you like."  
Tyler ran and changed into a blue shirt and black jeans. "Are we ready?" he asked and pulled on his backpack.  
"Wait! I need a picture!" His mom got her camera and tried to take pictures of Tyler, shaking from sugar. She groaned and told Tyler to sit still.  
"Yes! A good o- oh dammit! They all have blurry faces!"  
"I'm blurryface, mom." Tyler joked. His mom smiled at her son's attempt at a joke and said, "Whatever, let's go."  
They left for the bus stop.  
-time skip-  
Josh was the only other kid at the bus stop. The other kids had been taken to school by their parents.  
Josh was sitting on the bench when Tyler and his mom walked up to him. "Hi Josh!" Tyler, still on a sugar rush, waved excitedly. He sat on the bench next to Josh. "Hi." Josh smiled.

"Okay, I gotta go to work. Take care of yourselves. Bye Tyler, I love you."she kissed Tyler's cheek. He wiped it off and his mom stood next to Josh. "Your mom told me to say that she loves you and told me to give you a kiss too." she leaned down and Josh laughed. He wiped her kiss off also. Tyler's mom waved and walked back home.  
They sat in silence.  
Tyler broke it. "So, you're excited?" he started swinging his feet.  
"Kinda. At least we got the same class this year." Josh replied.  
"Yeah." Tyler said.  
It was quiet again. Josh looked at his watch. "The bus is two minutes late."  
"Oh." Tyler said.  
"Do you want to come over to my house after school?" Josh asked Tyler.  
"Okay, why?"   
Josh shrugged. "Just because."  
"Oh."  
 _What was up with all these awkward silences?_ They wondered.  
The bus finally pulled up and they got on.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Tyler was laying on his bed. Why didn't he remember Josh? He sighed.

Suddenly, lyrics started coming to his head. Tyler ran for his notepad and pen and scribbled words down. He ripped the paper off the pad and put it in his coat pocket for tomorrow.


	7. seven

The first day of 6th grade was successful, but Josh and Tyler already both didn't like this school year. Tyler called his mom from the school and she allowed him to go to Josh's place after school.

They got off the bus and went to Josh's house. "Boys, could you go in the back? I have friends over." Josh's mom quietly said when they stepped into the living room.

Josh walked outside to the creek behind the housing and Tyler followed. Josh sat down near the edge of the water. Tyler stood behind him, not wanting to get his pants dirty. He looked around the large back area. In a tree there sat a treehouse.

"Is that a treehouse?" Tyler asked. Josh turned his head so he could see what Tyler was looking at. "Yeah. Do you wanna go up there?" Tyler shrugged. Josh got up and ran over to the tree. Tyler ran after him, again following wherever Josh went.

Josh let Tyler climb up first. He put his hand on the wooden floor and pushed himself up when the ladder stopped. Soon he had his entire body in the treehouse and he stood up.

"Woah..." he said in awe. There was a small bed in the corner, basically just a thin mattress laid on the ground with an even thinner blanket on top with two pillows under it. A beanbag sat in the corner in front of a TV, and the TV had piles of games under it.

"How is there a TV in your treehouse?! Your parents must be rich!" Tyler basically shouted. Josh smiled as he got into the treehouse.

Josh sat in the beanbag. "Cool, right?'

"Uh, yeah!" Tyler replied. Josh put a disc into something under the TV and a game popped up.

Tyler saw the game. It was a game with spaceships and aliens. "This is the only one I play," Josh said.

"You like space?" Tyler was getting more and more excited. "Yes!" Josh shouted. The two eleven year olds happily talked about space and played the game.

Time flew by, and it started to get dark outside. "I should probably go, my mom's gonna be worried sick." Tyler said and stood up off the mat.

"Oh, bye. See ya tomorrow." Josh said, turning off the game console.

Tyler climbed down the ladder and ran home, smiling.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tyler ran into work only half-decently dressed. Yeah, he was insecure and cared what other people think, but he didn't seem to care right now.

He ran into the office room and slammed his notes on the table, "I have new ideas. You probably won't like them, but at least I have ideas."

Oliver looked up from where he was sitting on the other end of the table. "Okay, pass them over." Tyler slid the papers over.

Oliver read the paper. "Tyler."

Tyler sighed and looked away. "What, Oliver?! I try and try to write different songs that'll appeal to a group of people who need it, but you won't stop shutting down my ideas! Why?! Why are you so scared to try something new?!"

Oliver sat in silence. "Tyler, I-"

"Whatever, I don't care!" Tyler yelled and stormed out.


	8. eight

Josh was 18, and Tyler was 17. It was 2006. Somehow, they stayed friends for that long. Nothing had really changed between them, other than their connection grew stronger. Oh yeah, and Tyler kind of developed a crush on Josh. Tyler was pretty sure that Josh didn't like guys, but that would be okay. He wouldn't force anything onto Josh if he wasn't comfortable with it.

The school day finished, and Josh and Tyler went to Josh's house. Josh's sister was on the kitchen with a guy. She saw Tyler and Josh walk in. "Shoo! I'm studying!" she overreacted and yelled. "Okay, okay, calm down," Josh said, putting his hands up. Josh walked outside and Tyler followed him.

Josh stood in the backyard, just looking up at the sky. "What do you wanna do?" he asked Tyler. "I don't know. We could go in the treehouse." Josh shrugged. "Yeah, okay."

They ran to the treehouse and got inside. The treehouse stayed mostly the same over the years, broken things were replaced of course but everything looked like it did in 1999.

"Now what do you wanna do?" Josh sat in the beanbag. "Uh, truth or dare?" Tyler said. Josh half-smiled and chuckled. "I haven't played that since we were 10, okay."

Tyler sat on the still flimsy mattress near Josh. "Hold on, it's really bright outside." Josh said, squinting. He got up and pulled the curtains over the one big window. Josh sat back down. "You go first."

"Truth or dare."

"Truth."

Tyler hadn't been expecting Josh to pick truth, so he went with the first question that came to his mind. "Uh, what's your favorite color?"

Josh laughed. "Tyler, you know that! Ask a good question, like who my last boyfri-" he stopped.

Boyfriend? Tyler smirked. "Boyfriend?" Was Josh into boys like Tyler hoped? He could barely contain his excitement to find out.

"Uh, um, I meant, uh, girlfriend." Josh was obviously flustered. Tyler stood up and walked to the beanbag. He sat down in front of Josh.

"Do you like boys, Josh?"

"You already asked a question! It's my turn, truth or dare!"

"You basically said I could ask another one. And you never answered my question."

Josh put his hands in his face. "Fine, yes, okay! I like boys! I understand if you don't want to be my friend anymore, just know that it's something I can't change!"

Tyler could see that Josh was slightly crying now. He put his hand on his shoulder. Josh shrugged his hand away. "Josh, it's okay, it's nothing to be ashamed of."

"My parents told me that it was bad! Why do you think I spend so much time up here?!"

"When did you tell them?"

"Last year. They said I was disgrace to the family but they didn't kick me out."

It was silent except the quiet choked sobs from Josh.

"If you're going, then go." Josh said, still not looking up.

Tyler put his hand on his shoulder again. This time, Josh didn't move it.

"I won't leave you. I love you."

Josh looked up. "What? Are you teasing me because I'm gay?" his voice cracked on the last word. "Are you just going to stand up and yell 'no homo!' if i say it back?"

"No no no no no!" Tyler quickly said to try and stop the tears from filling Josh's eyes. It didn't work so he kept talking, hoping that Josh would actually listen to him. "I'm saying it because I do love you! I love you so much! I don't want you to be in pain, I love you!"

It all came spilling out. Josh stopped crying and just stared at Tyler. Tyler stared back, his mouth hanging open. "I- I'm sorry, I'm, I'll go" Tyler tried to cover it up and stood up. Josh grabbed his wrist, still just staring at him.

"Tyler, do you like boys too?" Josh asked. Tyler shyly nodded. Josh pulled Tyler down on top of him. Tyler realized what was happening.

Their lips were together. Tyler loved it.

Josh ran his fingers through Tyler's hair. "I love you," Josh whispered to Tyler.

"I love you too" he started to run his fingers along the hem of Josh's shirt, still kissing Josh.

Someone knocked on the door. Tyler parted and bounced up. Josh slowly pushed himself up too. Tyler opened the curtains and tried to flatten his hair so it wouldn't be obvious that someone had run their fingers through it.

Josh followed Tyler to the door. Tyler opened it and Josh's mom was standing there. "Hi boys, sorry for interrupting you, but Tyler's mom just called and she wants him home."

Tyler looked back at Josh and smiled. "Okay, bye Josh." Josh said bye and smiled too. Tyler climbed down the ladder and ran home.

Josh sat back in the beanbag.

He was starting to realize that his identity wasn't something to be ashamed of. Kissing Tyler had felt right. Something that felt so right couldn't be bad.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Earlier, Tyler had stormed out and was ready to go home, but he remembered that he was supposed to meet Josh before he left. Eventually he went back into the room with Oliver, but he just sat there and didn't talk.

The end of the day finally rolled around and Tyler met Josh in the front of the building. Josh was wearing a blue sweater and black jeans. He had a black beanie on too. A small picture was in his hand, fluttering in the wind. Tyler walked over to him. "Hey, what did you want to show me?"

"This." Josh held up the picture with the back facing Tyler. It had writing on it that said, "Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun, june 1998" Josh flipped it over to show the actual picture.

It was the same picture Tyler was looking at the other night. The one with the two boys and their arms around each other.

"When we met in the elevator, you looked familiar." I got home and found this picture in one of my dressers. I wasn't sure if it was actually you or not, but now I know." Josh smiled.

"I was looking at that picture the other night, why don't I remember that?"

"I don't remember the party, but I remember you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i don't know how to write smut so you got that


	9. nine

It was 2009. Josh and Tyler are fighting in their apartment. They've been fighting for so long, they forgot why they're fighting.

During one of the silences, Tyler sat down on the couch. "I wish we could turn back time to the good old days..." he whispered.

"To when? When our moms sang us to sleep? There haven't been good days for a long time, okay?" Josh ranted while he paced back and forth.

"What happened to us, our dreams?" Tyler looked up at Josh. "Our dreams to grow old together, love each other forever?"

"Yeah, our dreams, like the one about flying to space with our own rocketship." Tyler stood up, furious. "I'm trying to be serious Josh! I want to fix things!"

"Wake up Tyler! We aren't going to work! It's pretty obvious of that!"

"I hate you!" Tyler screamed. "You can keep this stupid apartment, too! I'm taking my things and my heart and I'm leaving!"

"Fine! Leave! I don't care about you!" Josh screamed back. Tyler ran around the apartment, gathering his clothes and his other possessions. He left and slammed the door.

Josh just stood there, staring at the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tyler woke up and suddenly remembered. He remembered everything. The fight, calling his parents and asking if he could move back in. Josh eventually faded from Tyler's mind. He forgot his name, his face. He sort of remembered that there was someone in his life like that, but not who he was. Josh did the same.

Details flooded Tyler's mind. He grabbed his bag and ran off to work early. He didn't know why he just remembered Josh, but he knew he had to say sorry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's coming


	10. ten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this entire chapter is in present time

Tyler ran into the building. It was open, but he didn't actually start work for another 50 minutes. He said hello to the woman at the desk in the entrance room and sat down on one of the couches.

He took out his phone and nervously checked it over and over again. Multiple people walked in, nobody looking at Tyler, thankfully. It had been 15 minutes, still no Josh. He's probably coming in on time, not early, Tyler thought.

The phone to the desk lady's right started ringing and startled Tyler. She picked up the phone and all Tyler saw was the woman making a sad face and nodding. He heard her say "okay", "i see", and "thank you". She put the phone down.

It was almost time for work, and Tyler couldn't take it anymore. He walked up to the lady. "Hello sir, how may I help you?" She smiled.

"Hi, yes, uh, you have a record of everyone who works here, right?" she nodded. Tyler nervously said, "Okay, can you contact someone for me?" she nodded again. "What's their name?" "Josh Dun."

She looked up. "Josh... Dun?"

"Yeah, can you contact him?"

"Um..." why was she gettting like this? Tyler just wanted to talk to Josh and tell him that he was sorry.

"I'm so sorry, Josh was in a car accident this morning. He was hit by a semi truck on the way to work, i'm afraid he didn't make it. I just got a phone call about it. I'm so sorry."

The world faded into black and Tyler dropped onto the floor.

~

Tyler opened his eyes. He was laying on a hospital bed. He felt his forehead, there was a bump with a band-aid on top.

He looked to his right at the chair. "Mom?" His mom woke up and smiled when she saw her son awake. "Tyler!" she stood up hugged him.

She sat back down in the chair. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah, why am I here?" Tyler asked.

"You passed out and hit your head against the floor. They wanted to make sure you didn't have any brain damage."

"Oh." Tyler said. He started to remember why he passed out in the first place. It still hadn't sunk in. Josh was dead. Tyler wouldn't ever be able to say that he was sorry.

"You thinking about Josh?" his mom asked. "The woman who was there with you told me that she told you about Josh being in a car crash. I realized that it was the Josh you used to be friends with, after I heard the last name."

Tyler nodded. His mom out her hand on his arm. "I'm really sorry. The police found something in Josh's car. They were going to save it for his funeral, but they decided Tyler Joseph needed it more."

She pulled something out of her purse. A picture. She handed it to Tyler.

It was a picture Tyler hadn't seen before. Josh and Tyler were at someone's wedding, obviously not their own, but they were dressed in suits. They were clinking glasses together and smiling. Some pen on the front read, "Hopefully this will be for us soon" with a smiley face and a heart.

Tyler flipped it over. He saw what was scribbled in sharpie.

Tears started to fall and smeared the word, "sorry".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for ripping your heart into a billion pieces


	11. ***

"I love you," Josh said as he pulled his boyfriend closer on the couch. Tyler smiled and replied, "I love you too."

Tyler lay his head down on Josh's lap. Josh stroked Tyler's head and the side of his face. It seemed a little weird, but it comforted Tyler. Josh sighed loudly.

"Tyler?"

Tyler turned his head so he was looking up at Josh. "Yeah?"

"What would you do... if I died? Like, I know I am going to die one day, but what happens when that day comes?"

Tyler shot up so he was sitting next to Josh. "Josh! Don't talk like that!"

Josh defensively shrugged his shoulders. "I'm just wondering."

Tyler was now on the opposite side of the couch from Josh. "Are you planning on dying soon?!" he said, panic rising in is chest. He didn't even want to think about Josh, his one and only love, dying.

"No, but it could happen any time. What would you do?"

"I... I'd kill myself." Tyler said almost confidently.

"Oh, come on Tyler! Something else than dying! When I die, I don't want you to die too."

"Well that's what I'd do! It'd be too hard to live without you!" Tyler yelled.

"No! Something else!" Josh yelled back.

"Why does it matter to you?! You'd be dead!" Tyler stood up and screamed.

"Yeah, well what if you died? Would you want me to die too?" Josh bounced up as well.

They took turns screaming at each other. The entire time, they both wished they could go back in time when they didn't fight. They wished they could go back before 2009.

They loved each other. They made an agreement that even if they broke up, they would still be friends.

That didn't happen. They were barely friends at the end of their relationship.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a/n: if you couldn't tell this is the fight ok
> 
> and you thought i was done hA
> 
> well now i am
> 
> i think
> 
> anyways i don't think i needed to add this but i did


End file.
